There is much debate about how societies can develop and become more competitive in today's
global economy. A basic premise of this course is that international competitiveness requires an
understanding of the organization of markets, which may be viewed as a network of buying and
supplying firms organized around the provision of finished goods and services. These
organizational chains are increasingly global, and have complex and shifting governance
structures that specify the power relations among the organizations in the chain. This framework
reveals surprising facts about who controls global industries, which firms make the most money
and why, and how new business capabilities are emerging that will determine the corporate
leaders of tomorrow.
Attention in the course will focus on the organizational dynamics of diverse global industries,
and on the competitive strategies of their leading firms. The geographic spread of these
industries encompasses North America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and
Africa, both as production sites and markets. This course will expose students to current theories
regarding international competitiveness; it will require students to retrieve and analyze original
international trade data, and learn how to present this information effectively in tables, charts and
graphs; and it will provide a team project experience in designing and evaluating global industry
websites.

The 19th and early 20th century founders of social science were deeply involved in analyzing the social, political, and economic changes that they observed in their own societies. The major theoretical perspectives about transformative changes date from this formative period. Despite the continuing currency of these early perspectives, the focused study of development dates from the post World War II era. From this period, we have gone through two and have entered a third "climate of opinion." Each climate of opinion contains a "circle of discourse" that connects what is perceived to be happening in the world to how theorists analyze social, political, and economic changes. The task of the course is to recognize the sociology of global and historical theorizing as an essential component of trying to understand the world in which we live.

We will examine both a changing world and changing views of the world in each of the three periods. In the first period immediately following World War II, a period in which the cold war developed, a number of sociologists and economists began systematically to investigate Third World societies--societies outside the capitalist and communists worlds. These observers argued for a theory of inevitable endogenous change toward capitalist development and political democracy; this theory became known as modernization theory.

In the 1960s, with the outbreak of the Vietnam war and of many mass movements, social theorists turned towards Marxian analysis and historical, comparative perspectives in order to decipher the changing world as then perceived. In this period, development theorists began passionately to argue for critical, trans-societal views of global change. This line of theorizing encompasses both world systems theory and theories of dependent development.

In the last decades, first with the rapprochement of the communist and capitalist worlds and then with the collapse of communism as a state system and Marxism as a viable political ideology, the sociology of development has begun to take another decisive shift. Recently, theorists are trying to combine views of global market processes with more institutional and organizational views of local and regional societies.

This first half of the course emphasizes the formative period in which the major paradigms of analysis were first formulated and the first two post-war circles of discourse. Then, in the second half of the course, we concentrate on the current circle of discourse.

This graduate-level course covers an area that is conventionally known as the
sociology of development. This course, however, differs from a traditional course in
development in that I am attempting here to synthesize a number of different literatures
into an integrated perspective that focuses on local economies in an age of global
capitalism. I describe these literatures below.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the founders of social science
were deeply involved in analyzing the social, political, and economic changes that they
observed in their own societies. Most theoretical perspectives about transformative
changes, which include economic growth and transformation, date from this formative
period. These perspectives include neo-classical economics; two strains of Marxian
analysis, one emphasizing political economy of nation states and the other emphasizing
global dimensions of capitalism; a Durkheimian interpretation that economic action rests
on social norms; and a Weberian view of the historical development and diffusion of
Western capitalism.
Despite the continuing currency of these early perspectives, the sociology of
development, as a defined area of study, dates only from the post World War II era.
Starting from this period, we have gone through two and have entered a third "climate of
opinion." Each climate of opinion contains a "circle of discourse" that connects what is
perceived to be happening in the world to how theorists representing different
perspectives analyze social, political, and economic changes. The task of the course is to
recognize the sociology of theorizing the global economy, even as we try to engage in the
theoretical effort ourselves.
Using a comparative, historical perspective to examine both a changing world and
changing views of the world, we will outline theoretical developments in the first two
periods, and then examine in depth those in the current period. In the first period
immediately following World War II, a period in which the cold war developed, a
number of sociologists and economists began systematically to investigate Third World
societies--societies outside the capitalist and communist worlds. These observers mainly
argued for a theory of inevitable endogenous change toward capitalist development and
political democracy; this theory became known as modernization theory.
In the 1960s, with the outbreak of the Vietnam War and of many mass
movements, social theorists turned towards Marxian analysis and historical, comparative
sociology in order to decipher the changing world as then perceived. In this period,
development theorists began passionately to argue for critical, trans-societal views of
global change. This line of theorizing encompasses both world systems theory and
theories of dependent development. Although overlapping at first and engaged in a
mutual deliberative discourse, these two sets of theories were then in tension with each
other and have since diverged.
In the last two decades, first with the rapprochement of the communist and capitalist worlds and then with the collapse of communism as a state system and of
Marxism as a viable political ideology, the sociology of development is in process of
changing in decisive ways. No clear consensus about the best ways to conceptualize
economic change has emerged. In fact, quite to the contrary, there now exist several
theoretical perspectives on global and local development that do not seem to be “talking
to each other.” With this course, I hope to begin a conversation among competing
multidisciplinary perspectives of the current state of global capitalism and local
development and the relation between the two.

This course will review recent comparative research and debates on “varieties of capitalism”,
concentrating on the so-called “triad” regions of North America, Western Europe, and East Asia.
Are there distinct national models or family types of capitalism across these regions? How far
and in what ways do developed capitalist economies differ from one another in their social
organization, institutional embeddedness, and modes of governance? What are the implications
of such differences for industrial specialization, technological innovation, and economic
performance in a competitive world market? How tightly coupled and mutually
supportive/constraining are the different domains and institutional structures within advanced
capitalist societies, from product, capital, and labor markets to corporate governance, education
and training, employment relations, and social welfare provision? Are current processes of
globalization and regionalization eroding the coherence and distinctiveness of national
economies? In tackling such questions, this course will combine a comparative approach with an
analysis of interdependence between competing systems, as well as a discussion of tendencies
towards convergence and/or divergence.